I am Legend is arguably the greatest short horror novel ever written, and its influence on the horror genre has been profound.Stephen King and many other of today's masters rank this book highly in their personal top ten lists of favorites.It is a short novel that can be read in one sitting; it is hard to put down, building in intensity from start to finish.Matheson creates an entirely new type of vampire fiction herein.Transcending the traditional vampire tale, he adds science fiction elements to produce a refreshing new interpretation of Stoker's legend.The most fascinating part of the story is the protagonist's (Richard Neville's) attempts to explain the legendary aspects of the vampire myth in scientific terms.His discovery of a bacterium, which he dubs vampiris, as the true source of vampirism struck me anew reading the novel again after the events of September 11, 2001.Although we only get pieces of the story regarding the outbreak of the vampiric plague, including a reference to bombings, it can easily be seen as the fruits of germ warfare.Neville even conjectures that the Black Death of the Middle Ages was caused by this same vampiris germ, and he extrapolates facts and ideas from that history in his attempts to understand why such defenses as garlic, crosses, and stakes driven into the heart actually are effective against the hordes of undead creatures menacing his own time.He studies academic texts and conducts experiments with the blood of these creatures, which is the means by which he identifies the bacterium.The essence of garlic has no effect on the germ when injected into a blood sample, which initially he is unable to explain, but he later is able to explain garlic's effectiveness.Less scientific tests lead him to conclude that crosses are only effective against "Christian" vampires; the cross has no meaning to for vampires who were once Jews and Moslems, but sacred symbols of those religions, such as the Torah and the Koran, do.All of these scientific tests and speculations are just fascinating.Neville is essentially the last man on earth, and the loneliness of his situation is the central part of the story.Matheson is able to communicate Neville's emotional feelings vividly, making him very real.We gradually acquire the story of the deaths of Neville's wife and daughter, essentially experiencing the pain he goes through when these memories overcome him.We watch him drink himself into a stupor as each night finds him besieged in his fortified house, surrounded by vampires, including his old friend and neighbor, calling for him to come out.We watch him slowly lose his grip on sanity and come very close to giving up.Then, however, we watch him overcome his depression and courageously fight to live in the nightmare world he is trapped in.The scenes with the dog he finds are full of emotion and really gripped this reader.This is Neville's first contact with nonvampiric life, and his attempts to befriend and help the poor creature (at the same time finally finding a companion) touched me greatly and brought tears to my eyes.His eventual discovery of another human being like himself is also powerful and emotional, although to speak more about this aspect of the story is to risk giving something away to the future reader.
This is a story of one man overcoming all obstacles and fighting to defend his way of life and his very humanity.The novel deals with the human condition, the essential ingredient to effective horror writing.Neville struggles constantly with his doubts and fears, particularly as he commits acts that he would have condemned as barbarous in the time before the plague.His needs for companionship of any kind offer us a clear image of the inner soul of man.By the end of the story, he does indeed become legend, both in his world and in ours.
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